What if you had to choose between her unborn son and her sister?
Who would you kill?
In this project, I answer that question from the point of view of Rachel using a fictional dialogue between her and God. I introduce her main character traits using her conflict with God, who presents her with the choice.
I incorporated an audio version of my dialogue and the dialogue itself. Moreover I involve two character analyses both about Rachel and God: one with the audio and dialogue, another with the Bible and paintings of the characters, which I found on the Internet.
Each of these paintings have a paragraph of the history and background including links of further information for the visitor's pleasure. Finally wrapping up the project, there is an overall reflection of my work and process giving my project a nice conclusion.
Audio
Dialogue
Narrator: After years of Leah's having the babies with Jacob, Rachel becomes extremely frustrated because for she remains barren. Because of this Rachel starts competing with Leah for Jacob and his love.
Rachel: If only I obtained the ability to conceive, for all I want is Jacob to belong solely to me. For if my womb remains closed, surely Jacob will would began loving Leah because she could provide him children. Why must my older sister be able to conceive, and I remain closed and barren? God I pray you will open my womb because Jacob must be mine and stay mine! Leah must stay unloved.
(Thunder and Zapping)(Loud and echoing voice)
God: Rachel, the second daughter of Laban and wife of Jacob, I hear your pleads. I shall grant your wishes, but you must complete one task. I command you to kill your older sister. Here is what you must do: Climb up to a mountain at sunset and she shall follow. There you shall strike her with a weapon, killing her, then in that instant I shall open your womb.
(Small and quiet voice)
Rachel: But God, why must I kill my Leah? She is my own flesh and blood. My desires for a child and Jacob prove great, but she is my only sister.
(Loud and echoing voice)
God: You must! Why do you reject my commands? Do it! Once you finish my commands, I will allow you to conceive and provide Jacob a child.
Rachel: Thank you God for answering my prayer and I shall carry out your demands.
God: Good luck child. (Lightning and Zapping, presenting departure of God)
Narrator: God's powerful voice filled Rachel with determination to achieve what he had asked. Rachel believed with God's guidance she would obtain all she wanted without consequence. Rachel prepared for God's task without further doubt or sadness. Soon comes sunset and Rachel approaches Leah commencing God's command.
Rachel: Leah! Oh come here my dear sister. How about you come with me and together we shall travel to the top of that mountain. There we can enjoy the beautiful sunset together.
Leah: Oh sister what a brilliant idea! Lead the way and I may follow you.
(Walking/ footsteps)
Rachel: Leah, we arrived to the top! Just look at the view! (whispering) Yes, finally. Only I will have the love of Jacob and his heart will belong to me. (Birds chirping)
Narrator: With Leah's back turned, Rachel found a large branch but as she begins to swing toward Leah's defenseless head she heard God's voice again. (Lightning and Thunder)(Loud and booming voice)
God: Stop! Rachel stop yourself. You have proved yourself concentrated on your wish. Stop and save your sister from your actions.
Narrator: God solely spoke to Rachel through her thoughts and mind. Rachel was able to stop before the heavy branch killed Leah and suddenly became aware of the atrocity of her actions.
Rachel: Oh what have I done? So close to killing my older sister, I almost achieved a terrible, unforgivable act.
(Loud and echoing voice)
God: By almost accomplishing my command your determination for your longing is clear. Your womb is now open allowing you to conceive.
Rachel: God thank you! Oh thank you so much. Finally I have Jacob and he will remain far from Leah's possession!
God: Goodbye my dear. (Thunder and zapping noises, God's departure)
Rachel: Leah! Let us go back home for night is upon us and Jacob must be wondering where we both are.
Narrator: The opening of Rachel's womb resolved the conflict between the sisters and Rachel obtained Jacob for herself. Although Leah lost the competition for Jacob, instead of gaining a loving husband she gained a loving and caring sister. The end.
Dialogue Character Analysis
Rachel
Rachel's desperation and possessive nature over Jacob allows her to compromise her morals so she may achieve her one desire, Jacob's love. When God talks to Rachel commanding her to kill her sister, Rachel asks "why [she] must kill [her] Leah" (Yun 1) in a scared and unsure tone.
Rachel's use and tone of "why" presents her wariness towards the murderous act because of her morals. However, later in the dialogue Rachel wills herself to complete the command. Rachel's willingness to follow the task shows the desperation to win Jacob's heart is powerful enough
for Rachel to compromise her morals and conscience.
Early in the dialogue, when the audience first meets Rachel, Rachel prays and begs for the ability to conceive; she believed Jacob "must be [hers] and stay [hers]" (Yun 1). Yun included the word "must" to show Rachel's strong need and wanting for Jacob.
Throughout the dialogue, Yun presents Rachel's possessiveness towards Jacob with sharper words and an slightly obsessive tone in Rachel's voice in the audio. Yun also represents Rachel's strong wanting for Jacob using her compliance to God's commands. Because of her high degree of possession towards Jacob, Rachel believes she is justified in killing Leah, compromising her morals. This lying to herself allows her to carry out the task and transform into a merciless character with only her possessiveness drive her.
Genesis and Artwork Character Analysis
As a result of Rachel's desperation, her possessive nature exposes what she desires. In the Bible, Rachel remains barren as her sister obtains the ability to conceive and sharply commands Jacob to "'give [her] children, or [she] shall die'" (Gen. 30.01). The redactors use the word "die" to present the lengths Rachel will go in order to receiver what she wants.
She would die in order to gain children proving the great magnitude of her desperation for child. With her desperation, the redactors present the cultural significance of children and families, helping the readers understand the conditions and values of that time.
Jacob Encountering Rachel with her Father's Herds
Jacob Encountering Rachel with her Father's Herds, a painting by Joseph von Fuhrich also exhibits another part of Rachel's character. In this painting, Joseph von Fuhrich shows them in an embrace while around a flock of sheep.
With Rachel's body movement, how she takes a stepforward to tighten her grip on Jacob, Joseph von Fuhrich presents Rachel's possessive attitude towards Jacob.
By doing this he presents Rachel's character as a typical woman in a relationship, and Joseph von Fuhrich presents the value of men in a woman's life through Rachel deep wanting to own and control Jacob.
Due to God's loftiness, God proves uncaring towards humans for selfish reasons. After Jacob falls in love with Rachel, he worked for seven years to be with her; however, God opened Leah's womb while "Rachel was barren" (Gen. 29.31). The redactors use the word "barren" to not only describe the condition of Rachel's womb but to also emphasize how she feels alone and forgotten by God.
God only uses Leah as a tool to display the extent of his power and did not matter about the consequences between Rachel and Leah he causes. The redactors present God in such a negative light to show the true power of God, no matter how uncaring he might be, and to explain the motivation of God throughout the Bible.
In The Lord Answering Job Out of the Whirlwind
InThe Lord Answering Job Out of the Whirlwind, an illustration of God helping mere mortals, William Blake displays another part of God's character. In this drawing, God is set in the sky in a whirl of clouds hover those who need him most.
Blake presents the power and grand character of God using his placement in the sky. This placement shows how God resembles the night sky, continuously looming and watching all on land; with the parallel between God and the sky, Blake forces the viewer to perceive God as a strong, powerful aspect in life.
With these tools, the unknown artist presents God's loftiness and explains the motivation of God's treatment towards humans.
Born in 1800, Josef von Führich, a Bohemian painter, printmaker and teacher, was trained by his father until age eighteen. Later in his life he had the chance to study in Prague and Vienna where he was influences by the medieval and Renaissance art.
Josef belonged to a group called the Nazarenes, a group of artists that believed all art should serve a moral or religious purpose. These artists produced very detailed but unimpressive paintings. Josef's work the exemplifies the work of the Nazarenes, and because of this he became the main representative for Nazarene-style painting in Austria.
Painted between 1834 to his death, his most famous paintings consisted of religious subjects. Jacob Encountering Rachel with her Father's Herds, painted in 1836, presents the perfect example for this period of adored paintings.
Born on November 28, 1757, William Blake showed promise as an artist even as a child. Enrolled in drawing school, he found many of his influences such as Greek and Roman sculpture. After drawing school he apprenticed an engraver for more than ten years and learned the trade, later incorporating engravings into his paintings.
While William worked on his own pieces, he also illustrated books, sometimes his own writings, like The Book of Job which includes his illustration InThe Lord Answering Job Out of the Whirlwind. For these illustrations, William utilized his engraving skills; however, his job became weary after about twenty years.
In the later times of his life, William suffered from an unknown disease, but he continued to work. He died on August 12, 1827.
Reflection
The overall experience of the project benefitted me as a student. I know the analysis will help me prepare for the final, the project taught me the importance of time management, and I learned the value of patience.
Certainly, the recording was the most frustrating and hardest things this whole semester. Personally, I cannot manage technology well, and just the constant frustration of something being erased or me having to start all over again on the recording did not make me happier. However, I pushed through all the rough patches with Audacity. After I finished the re-recording, I really believe that this project helped me improve as a student and it will benefit my time management in time for dead week.
Constructing the Wikispace was also frustrating and surprisingly hard. For the first thirty minutes, it proved impossible to find any of the functions I wanted. I found wrapping text, changing the banner color, adding captions, and trying to center the text the most difficult aspects of the Wikispace; however, once I found all the functions and understood every icon the project ran smoothly from there. I had fun changing the colors and picking out the font, trying to make my Wikispace look clean and match the color scheme with the rest of the website.
The creative freedom of this project undoubtedly increased the level of enjoyment I received from this project. The assignment freed me from most of the guidelines and gave me much more responsibility than I have received all year. Rather than having my English teacher teach me new lessons, I was able to learn by myself and practice the skills I will need for the next few years.
Although at times the some aspects of the project proved frustrating, I learned from my mistakes and I was able to finish this project with something I am truly happy to turn in.
Sacrifices of Desire
by: Katie Y.What if you had to choose between her unborn son and her sister?
Who would you kill?
In this project, I answer that question from the point of view of Rachel using a fictional dialogue between her and God. I introduce her main character traits using her conflict with God, who presents her with the choice.
I incorporated an audio version of my dialogue and the dialogue itself. Moreover I involve two character analyses both about Rachel and God: one with the audio and dialogue, another with the Bible and paintings of the characters, which I found on the Internet.
Each of these paintings have a paragraph of the history and background including links of further information for the visitor's pleasure. Finally wrapping up the project, there is an overall reflection of my work and process giving my project a nice conclusion.
Audio
Dialogue
Narrator: After years of Leah's having the babies with Jacob, Rachel becomes extremely frustrated because for she remains barren. Because of this Rachel starts competing with Leah for Jacob and his love.
Rachel: If only I obtained the ability to conceive, for all I want is Jacob to belong solely to me. For if my womb remains closed, surely Jacob will would began loving Leah because she could provide him children. Why must my older sister be able to conceive, and I remain closed and barren? God I pray you will open my womb because Jacob must be mine and stay mine! Leah must stay unloved.
(Thunder and Zapping)(Loud and echoing voice)
God: Rachel, the second daughter of Laban and wife of Jacob, I hear your pleads. I shall grant your wishes, but you must complete one task. I command you to kill your older sister. Here is what you must do: Climb up to a mountain at sunset and she shall follow. There you shall strike her with a weapon, killing her, then in that instant I shall open your womb.
(Small and quiet voice)
Rachel: But God, why must I kill my Leah? She is my own flesh and blood. My desires for a child and Jacob prove great, but she is my only sister.
(Loud and echoing voice)
God: You must! Why do you reject my commands? Do it! Once you finish my commands, I will allow you to conceive and provide Jacob a child.
Rachel: Thank you God for answering my prayer and I shall carry out your demands.
God: Good luck child.
(Lightning and Zapping, presenting departure of God)
Narrator: God's powerful voice filled Rachel with determination to achieve what he had asked. Rachel believed with God's guidance she would obtain all she wanted without consequence. Rachel prepared for God's task without further doubt or sadness. Soon comes sunset and Rachel approaches Leah commencing God's command.
Rachel: Leah! Oh come here my dear sister. How about you come with me and together we shall travel to the top of that mountain. There we can enjoy the beautiful sunset together.
Leah: Oh sister what a brilliant idea! Lead the way and I may follow you.
(Walking/ footsteps)
Rachel: Leah, we arrived to the top! Just look at the view! (whispering) Yes, finally. Only I will have the love of Jacob and his heart will belong to me.
(Birds chirping)
Narrator: With Leah's back turned, Rachel found a large branch but as she begins to swing toward Leah's defenseless head she heard God's voice again.
(Lightning and Thunder)(Loud and booming voice)
God: Stop! Rachel stop yourself. You have proved yourself concentrated on your wish. Stop and save your sister from your actions.
Narrator: God solely spoke to Rachel through her thoughts and mind. Rachel was able to stop before the heavy branch killed Leah and suddenly became aware of the atrocity of her actions.
Rachel: Oh what have I done? So close to killing my older sister, I almost achieved a terrible, unforgivable act.
(Loud and echoing voice)
God: By almost accomplishing my command your determination for your longing is clear. Your womb is now open allowing you to conceive.
Rachel: God thank you! Oh thank you so much. Finally I have Jacob and he will remain far from Leah's possession!
God: Goodbye my dear.
(Thunder and zapping noises, God's departure)
Rachel: Leah! Let us go back home for night is upon us and Jacob must be wondering where we both are.
Narrator: The opening of Rachel's womb resolved the conflict between the sisters and Rachel obtained Jacob for herself. Although Leah lost the competition for Jacob, instead of gaining a loving husband she gained a loving and caring sister. The end.
Dialogue Character Analysis
Rachel's use and tone of "why" presents her wariness towards the murderous act because of her morals. However, later in the dialogue Rachel wills herself to complete the command. Rachel's willingness to follow the task shows the desperation to win Jacob's heart is powerful enough
for Rachel to compromise her morals and conscience.
Early in the dialogue, when the audience first meets Rachel, Rachel prays and begs for the ability to conceive; she believed Jacob "must be [hers] and stay [hers]" (Yun 1). Yun included the word "must" to show Rachel's strong need and wanting for Jacob.
Throughout the dialogue, Yun presents Rachel's possessiveness towards Jacob with sharper words and an slightly obsessive tone in Rachel's voice in the audio. Yun also represents Rachel's strong wanting for Jacob using her compliance to God's commands. Because of her high degree of possession towards Jacob, Rachel believes she is justified in killing Leah, compromising her morals. This lying to herself allows her to carry out the task and transform into a merciless character with only her possessiveness drive her.
Genesis and Artwork Character Analysis
As a result of Rachel's desperation, her possessive nature exposes what she desires. In the Bible, Rachel remains barren as her sister obtains the ability to conceive and sharply commands Jacob to "'give [her] children, or [she] shall die'" (Gen. 30.01). The redactors use the word "die" to present the lengths Rachel will go in order to receiver what she wants.
She would die in order to gain children proving the great magnitude of her desperation for child. With her desperation, the redactors present the cultural significance of children and families, helping the readers understand the conditions and values of that time.
Jacob Encountering Rachel with her Father's Herds, a painting by Joseph von Fuhrich also exhibits another part of Rachel's character. In this painting, Joseph von Fuhrich shows them in an embrace while around a flock of sheep.
With Rachel's body movement, how she takes a stepforward to tighten her grip on Jacob, Joseph von Fuhrich presents Rachel's possessive attitude towards Jacob.
By doing this he presents Rachel's character as a typical woman in a relationship, and Joseph von Fuhrich presents the value of men in a woman's life through Rachel deep wanting to own and control Jacob.
Due to God's loftiness, God proves uncaring towards humans for selfish reasons. After Jacob falls in love with Rachel, he worked for seven years to be with her; however, God opened Leah's womb while "Rachel was barren" (Gen. 29.31). The redactors use the word "barren" to not only describe the condition of Rachel's womb but to also emphasize how she feels alone and forgotten by God.
God only uses Leah as a tool to display the extent of his power and did not matter about the consequences between Rachel and Leah he causes. The redactors present God in such a negative light to show the true power of God, no matter how uncaring he might be, and to explain the motivation of God throughout the Bible.
In The Lord Answering Job Out of the Whirlwind, an illustration of God helping mere mortals, William Blake displays another part of God's character. In this drawing, God is set in the sky in a whirl of clouds hover those who need him most.
Blake presents the power and grand character of God using his placement in the sky. This placement shows how God resembles the night sky, continuously looming and watching all on land; with the parallel between God and the sky, Blake forces the viewer to perceive God as a strong, powerful aspect in life.
With these tools, the unknown artist presents God's loftiness and explains the motivation of God's treatment towards humans.
Artists' Information
Josef von Führich
Born in 1800, Josef von Führich, a Bohemian painter, printmaker and teacher, was trained by his father until age eighteen. Later in his life he had the chance to study in Prague and Vienna where he was influences by the medieval and Renaissance art.Josef belonged to a group called the Nazarenes, a group of artists that believed all art should serve a moral or religious purpose. These artists produced very detailed but unimpressive paintings. Josef's work the exemplifies the work of the Nazarenes, and because of this he became the main representative for Nazarene-style painting in Austria.
Painted between 1834 to his death, his most famous paintings consisted of religious subjects. Jacob Encountering Rachel with her Father's Herds, painted in 1836, presents the perfect example for this period of adored paintings.
William Blake
Born on November 28, 1757, William Blake showed promise as an artist even as a child. Enrolled in drawing school, he found many of his influences such as Greek and Roman sculpture. After drawing school he apprenticed an engraver for more than ten years and learned the trade, later incorporating engravings into his paintings.While William worked on his own pieces, he also illustrated books, sometimes his own writings, like The Book of Job which includes his illustration In The Lord Answering Job Out of the Whirlwind. For these illustrations, William utilized his engraving skills; however, his job became weary after about twenty years.
In the later times of his life, William suffered from an unknown disease, but he continued to work. He died on August 12, 1827.
Reflection
The overall experience of the project benefitted me as a student. I know the analysis will help me prepare for the final, the project taught me the importance of time management, and I learned the value of patience.
Certainly, the recording was the most frustrating and hardest things this whole semester. Personally, I cannot manage technology well, and just the constant frustration of something being erased or me having to start all over again on the recording did not make me happier. However, I pushed through all the rough patches with Audacity. After I finished the re-recording, I really believe that this project helped me improve as a student and it will benefit my time management in time for dead week.
Constructing the Wikispace was also frustrating and surprisingly hard. For the first thirty minutes, it proved impossible to find any of the functions I wanted. I found wrapping text, changing the banner color, adding captions, and trying to center the text the most difficult aspects of the Wikispace; however, once I found all the functions and understood every icon the project ran smoothly from there. I had fun changing the colors and picking out the font, trying to make my Wikispace look clean and match the color scheme with the rest of the website.
The creative freedom of this project undoubtedly increased the level of enjoyment I received from this project. The assignment freed me from most of the guidelines and gave me much more responsibility than I have received all year. Rather than having my English teacher teach me new lessons, I was able to learn by myself and practice the skills I will need for the next few years.
Although at times the some aspects of the project proved frustrating, I learned from my mistakes and I was able to finish this project with something I am truly happy to turn in.
Works Cited
"Biography." Blakearchive. Ed. Morris Eave, Robert Essick, and Joseph Viscomi. Library of Congress. Web. 16 May 2010. <http://www.blakearchive.org/saxon/servlet/SaxonServletsource=/blake/documents/biography.xml&style=blake/shared/styles/wba.xsl&targ_div=d1&targ_pict=1&render=text&clear-stylesheet-cache=yes>.
Blake, William. Self-Portrait of William Blake. 1802. Blakearchive. Web. 16 May 2010. <http://www.blakearchive.org/saxon/servlet/SaxonServletsource=blake/documents/biography.xml&style=blake/shared/styles/wba.xsl>.
Blake, William. The Lord Answering Job Out of the Whirlwind. 1825. One Year Bible Blog. 22 Aug. 2009. Web. 16 May 2010. <http://oneyearbibleimages.com/god_job.jpg>.
Führich, Josef Von. Jacob Encountering Rachel with Her Father's Herds. 1836. Rickety.us. 5 Jan. 2010. Web. 10 Mar. 2010. <http://www.rickety.us/wpcontent/uploads/2010/01/Jacob_Encountering_Rachel.jpg>.
Führich, Josef Von. Maria Mit Jesuskind Und Johannesknaben. 1826. Oil. Artnet. Artnet, 2010. Web. 16 May 2010. <http://www.artnet.com/artists/lotdetailpage.aspxlot_id=2C1D4398BCA6AC8D725CFFD65F104316>.
Führich, Josef Von. Mariens Gang. 1841. Oil. Wikipedia. Web. 16 May 2010. <http://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Datei:Josef_von_F%C3%BChrich,_Mariens_Gang.jpg>.
Rachel. Digital art. Yoyita: Catholic Art. 1976-2009. Web. 16 May 2010. <www.yoyita.com/Catholic_art.html>.
"Romanticism." History of Art. Web. 16 May 2010. <http://www.all-art.org/history392-3.html>.